Image / Marble extends across the floor like a carpet, leading towards the dining area, where bronze-toned titanium framing draws attention to the fantastical natural patterns of “黑森林” stone. Metal and marble capture and reflect shifting light from the sun and pendant fixtures, subtly marking the transition from the main living space into the more private areas of the home.
 

Despite his extensive experience designing grand luxury residences, Elen believes that people—not decoration—should remain at the heart of a home. Even when budgets are generous, he sees no reason to push interior construction to its absolute limit or fill every surface simply because it is possible.

With Creative Group’s work extending beyond Taiwan, Elen has travelled extensively across Europe and Southeast Asia.

“Taiwan is one of the few places where interiors are so heavily renovated. An architect completes a building, but somehow we feel we still can’t simply move in and live there. Does that really make sense? Yet we’ve become completely accustomed to it.”

He contrasts this with the way homes are approached elsewhere.

“In Scandinavia and Japan, when the architect finishes the building, much of the interior is already complete. What remains are movable elements—furniture, curtains, floral arrangements, and other furnishings.”

The term “accessible luxury” is often associated with fashion—from jewellery and leather goods to couture. At ALLNESS DESIGN, however, Elen uses a more restrained interpretation of luxury as a central concept when communicating with clients.

For him, it means less emphasis on permanent construction and greater emphasis on furnishings, art, and objects.

Moving away from excessive renovation not only reduces the physical burden placed on a building, but also shifts attention towards the things that genuinely matter to its occupants.

“What’s important is choosing things you truly love—things that are well made and will last. It isn’t about how much you spend. Your home becomes your own personal gallery, and you can still live with tremendous quality.”

Furnishings and decorative objects become an art form intertwined with everyday life. Elen compares them to the Japanese appreciation of seasonality: like changing a floral arrangement according to one’s mood, a home can evolve with the seasons, taking on different colours and expressions throughout the year.

“What is the purpose of this renovation?”

It is a simple question, but one that often reaches straight to the heart of a project. When Elen asks it directly, many clients find themselves unable to answer immediately.

Why begin there?

“Clients with substantial budgets often own more than one property, and this is rarely their first renovation. Once you’ve been through the process several times, it can become routine. The emotional connection starts to disappear. It becomes: ‘Here’s my budget. Just finish the house for me.’”

Elen prefers to sit down with clients and encourage them to reconsider what the home actually means to them.

Perhaps the property is a gift for a daughter. Perhaps it will become a retirement home for two sisters. Whatever the circumstances, the purpose becomes the starting point.

From there, the team conducts an almost detective-like exploration of the client’s background, gradually uncovering the experiences, motivations, and aspirations that shape their life. Once that context becomes clear, the design objective can be defined—and the space becomes a means of achieving it.

A: I’ve been working in design for more than 20 years, so I’ve encountered an enormous variety of stone. Rather than focusing primarily on price or appearance, I care more about the emotional experience a material creates.

Different combinations of stone can produce entirely different design expressions. That sensory and emotional quality comes from the material being natural—it simply cannot be replicated by something artificial. People can genuinely feel the difference.

Our group works with several stone suppliers, and among them, CHENHOW MARBLE has consistently been ahead of the curve. It was the first company I encountered that presented stone as artwork and created a distinctive experience beginning with the selection process itself.

Years ago, visiting a stone factory meant walking into a place covered in dust. You picked a slab and used it—it almost felt like choosing ingredients at a traditional market.

The first time I visited CHENHOW MARBLE, I realised someone was treating marble as something precious. The slabs were displayed with care, accompanied by information and presented with a genuine sense of dignity.

To some extent, I believe this approach also helps elevate people’s appreciation of aesthetics in everyday life, and that is incredibly important. From my perspective, CHENHOW MARBLE has successfully communicated the value that natural stone deserves.

Q: How would you describe your personal view of CHENHOW MARBLE and its materials?

A: I love selecting stone and wood. They are two of the most natural materials we can work with, and no two patterns or textures are ever identical. That gives them an inherent uniqueness and rarity.

We all know that paintings by Zao Wou-Ki can sell for hundreds of millions of dollars. I often say to clients, “Look at this piece of stone—isn’t it even more abstract than a Zao Wou-Ki painting?”

What does that tell us? Stone and wood invite interpretation. Their meaning depends on the person looking at them and the way they are incorporated into a space.

I take clients with me to select stone and timber because the selection process itself allows us to begin connecting the material with their personal story.

Stone can become a medium through which that story is told. Sometimes a slab might cost only NT$50,000, yet for that amount you are acquiring what is essentially a one-of-a-kind original work of art created by nature. It will not fade over time like a painting, nor does it require a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment for preservation.

Marble is one of nature’s purest geological creations—a material formed over immense spans of time. That is why I often use stone as though it were a painting or a work of art. To me, that is one of its greatest strengths.

With every project, I hope clients will choose stone the way they would choose art. That is how they find the piece that truly resonates with them.

When you look at stone through the eyes of an art collector, its price can seem surprisingly modest compared with its rarity—something manufactured materials simply cannot reproduce.

If you’ve ever lived in a home with marble flooring throughout, you understand the sensation. You hardly need slippers; there is an immediate physical connection with the earth beneath you.

No other building material can quite match the temperature, tactile quality, and emotional presence of natural stone. If we can bring that material into a space and allow it to speak for itself, without overwhelming it with decoration, isn’t that a wonderful idea?

Q: After more than two years of pandemic-era living, how has Elen’s approach to design evolved?

A: Our team began discussing the potential impact of the post-pandemic era on design from the earliest stages of the pandemic. Over time, however, as we continued observing how people actually lived and worked, we realised that many of the principles we had already been applying were remarkably well suited to these changes.

Whether someone is working from home or remotely from another location, many of our clients can manage what they need with little more than an iPad. In terms of design, that means virtually any part of the home can adapt naturally to different uses.

If you ask whether we need to fundamentally modify our designs specifically because of pandemic-era lifestyles, for the clients we serve, the answer is largely no.

From the study and living room to the bar area, each space is sufficiently defined to offer its own experience and level of quality, while remaining flexible enough to accommodate changing needs.

Whether someone wants an office to feel more like home, or a home to function with the versatility of an office, that adaptability is already built into the design. The spaces have been considered from multiple perspectives and planned with enough flexibility to respond to different ways of living.

In that sense, we had already been designing with the future in mind.